Solitude in the heart of Seoul

[Originally published on Cent]

On the way to meet my wife for sushi near City Hall last night, I took a meandering detour.

I hooked a left at the entrance to Deoksoo Palace (덕수궁) and walked along the narrow stone walled alley (돌담길). It was cold, but peaceful. And quiet.

Finding a quiet place within a metropolis of 15 million souls is rare, but I found something even better last night: solitude in the heart of Seoul.

At the back end of the palace I veered off onto an even narrower path. I thought it would wrap all the way around to the other side where the sushi place and my wife were waiting, but after 250m or so I hit a dead end. But it was the best dead end.

In front of me a centuries old (looking) wall was half hidden in shadow. Beyond it a line of naked gingko trees failed to conceal the hyper-modern glittering urban vista of Seoul.

I took a few deep breaths, listened to Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison tell me I should bias towards older, time tested and proven books on The Tim Ferris Show beaming from my earbuds into my earballs, and then I turned around.

Cheers everyone, to a peaceful night and savoring those sweet, silent moments of perfection🍻